• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

On May Day and Meaningful Work

by Aydasara Ortega - May 1, 2016

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin
Meaningful work
Digital collages made by Ruben Rivera and Aydasara Ortega

“Those who do not move do not feel their chains.”
– Rosa Luxemburg

History has lots to teach us about democracy. For instance, about something we commemorate May 1st: International Worker’ Day. It happened that in the 19th century, the working class was in relentless struggle to have an 8-hour work day and other protections. Working situations were austere for so many working 10 to 16 hour days in hazardous conditions. Thus, in the 1860’s, working people mobilized speaking loud and clear in favor of an 8-hour work day without a cut in pay – claimed by the working people themselves without the support or consent of the employers. Two decades later, organized labor was able to gather sufficient courage to proclaim the 8-hour workday. “The curves of your lips rewrite history.” Oscar Wilde

It is interesting to see that after such hard struggle, in present day industrial societies, many worry about the possibility of losing their jobs to robots and computers. What sounds like a science fiction movie is actually not. A recent report by the World Economic Forum states that “developments in artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotechnology, would disrupt the business world in a similar way to previous industrial revolutions.”

According to Klaus Schwab, the founder and chairman of the WEF, given that technology could kill 5 million jobs by 2020 countries will have to invest in transforming their workforce if they want to keep up with the changes and avoid a worst case scenario of “talent shortages, mass unemployment and growing inequality.”

How is this happening? Nearly every job being replaced by new technology is part of an industry paying middle-class wages. For instance, according to the Labor Department statistics, “in the U.S., more than 1.1 million secretaries vanished from the job market between 2000 and 2010, their job security shattered by software that lets bosses field calls themselves and arrange their own meetings and trips. Over the same period, the number of telephone operators plunged by 64 percent, word processors and typists by 63 percent, travel agents by 46 percent and bookkeepers by 26 percent.”

Well, what can we do? “Everyone is always scared that technology will take our jobs. But it has always created jobs rather than destroyed them.” We – society as a whole – cannot cease to speak up, to join our strength to awaken each other’s consciousness. We have to find new means for creating and finding meaningful work. Having a calculator will not make us mathematicians. Using a keyboard will not make us good writers. We need to further expand and strengthen our skills to work – fairly and meaningfully – with what we foresee in the future.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive,
nor the most intelligent,
but the one most responsive to change.”
– Charles Darwin

Meaningful work

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: DC Authors Tagged With: Democracy Protests, Election History, Socialism and Labor

About Aydasara Ortega

Aydasara Ortega Torres writes for Democracy Chronicles from New York. She is a Faculty Member of Psychology at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Also take a look at her website for more of her work.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | DC AUTHORS | On May Day and Meaningful Work

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

Quality Education and Prioritizing Children: Fighting GOP Exploitation

By Jack Jones March 14, 2023

The GOP has turned its back on the educational needs of America’s youth. We need to invest in our children and protect their futures.

Finding the “We” in Civic Engagement

By Jenna Spinelle March 4, 2023

Collective action problems arise for people who want to get things done. Forming functional groups is key to effective civic engagement.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

Taking Cues From The American Oligarchy

By Jack Jones February 20, 2023

The more the GOP has become complete obedience to their oligarch masters, the more they are driving the right winged minded fringe.

How california made a polish poet great

By Joe Mathews February 8, 2023

Exiled to Berkeley, Czesław Miłosz explored the margins of alienation, the horrors of his past, and visions of the future.

What Will It Take To Make Democracy More Representative?

By Jenna Spinelle February 8, 2023

Multiple dimensions of identity simultaneously shape pathways to candidacy and representation for all groups seeking a seat.

Courts Off The Deep End, Again

By Andrew Straw February 1, 2023

Closing the courts, shutting down dissent, and violating the rights of whistleblowers. These are not the actions of an open, free society.

The Christian Evangelical Church

By Jack Jones January 22, 2023

I am not against Big Business having a voice, just not all the voices, and especially not an impersonator pretending to speak for God.

No One In Monterey County Is Good Enough To Serve In Legislature

By Joe Mathews January 9, 2023

California’s “democratic reforms” have left a place as… [key] as Monterey County without any state representation from one of its own.

In America, the Joe-mocracy Rules

By Joe Mathews December 27, 2022

A republic? A democracy? No, our country is an avuncular autocracy run by old guys named joe.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

1800s Barbershop Converted To Voting Rights Museum

1800s Barbershop Converted To Voting Rights Museum

March 16, 2023

El Paso’s Project XV Museum, Texas’ first voting rights museum, has been built over the last year by David Strother, a barbershop owner.

Russian Wagner Boss Acknowledges Comparison With Rasputin

Russian Wagner Boss Acknowledges Comparison With Rasputin

January 30, 2023

Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to comparisons [with]…Rasputin who treated the son of the last tsar for haemophilia.

ChatGPT Is Changing Education, AI Experts Say

ChatGPT Is Changing Education, AI Experts Say

January 30, 2023

Newly-launched AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT is changing the internet landscape. It presents several opportunities, including in education.

Girl Scouts Earn Democracy Badge At Workshop In Salina

Girl Scouts Earn Democracy Badge At Workshop In Salina

January 26, 2023

The workshop assisted Girl Scouts in grades K–10 in earning their Democracy Badge through learning activities on democracy.

Study: Media Can Reduce Polarization By Telling Personal Stories

Study: Media Can Reduce Polarization By Telling Personal Stories

January 26, 2023

Sharing personal experiences and pairing them with facts reduces political dehumanization and increases political tolerance.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy